from  f  0e  fetfirarg  of 

(professor  rtDx ffiam  %wtyt  <Bteen 

QSequeaffJeb  fig  0ttn  to 
f0e  £if3rat*£  of 

(prtncefon  C^eofogtcaf  ^emtnarg 


CCTI375 

>Sfe7 


DENARIUS  OF  TIBERIUS. 
“PENNY.”  A.  D.  14-37. 


STATER. 

ANTIOCHUS  IV.  (EPIPHANES.)  B.  C.  175-184, 


STATER. 


ANTIOOHUS.  (GEYPBS.)  B.  0.  124-97. 


SHEKEL 

(MACCABEES,)  About  145  B.  C, 


DENARIUS. 

VESPASIAN,  (“JUDEA  DEVICTA.”)  About  A,  D.  70. 


DENARIUS. 

VESPASIAN,  (“  JUDEA,”)  About  A.  D,  71-79, 


LEPTON.  »  MITE." 

POUND  NEAE  THE  TEMPLE;  CUERENT  IN  TIME  OF 

CHRIST, 


THE 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE 

AND  ITS 


MONET  TERMS. 


JAMES  BOSS  SNOWDEN,  A.M., 


AUTHOR  OF 

“Coins  of  all  Nations,”  “Medallic  Memorials  of  Washington, 
National  Medals,”  &c.,  &c. 


ENLARGED  EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No.  821  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864,  by 

THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

in  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District 

of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  WESTCOTT  &  THOMSON. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


A  few  years  ago  the  writer  made  some  remarks 
to  a  Sabbath-school  with  which  he  was  connected, 
and  exhibited  specimens  of  some  of  the  Coins 
mentioned  in  the  Bible,  namely,  a  denarius,  or 
“  penny a  shekel,  a  silver  st&ter,  and  a  lepton, 
or  “widow’s  mite.”  There  was  present  on  that 
occasion  a  clergyman,  at  whose  request  the  writer 
prepared  a  series  of  articles  on  the  same  subject, 
which  were  published  in  the  “  Sabbath-school 
Visitor 

In  compliance  with  the  repeated  request  of  the 
same  gentleman,  and  other  clergymen  and  laymen, 
the  writer  has  arranged  these  articles,  and  with 
several  additional  chapters,  and  some  introductory 
remarks,  they  are  presented  to  the  public  in  the 
present  form. 

1  * 


3 


4 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


As  the  articles  were  originally  written  for  a 
Sabbath-school  paper,  so  now,  this  little  work  is 
mainly  intended  to  be  used  as  a  Sabbath-school 
book.  The  writer  begs  to  express  the  hope  that 
its  pages  will  give  useful  information  to  youthful 
inquirers  after  truth  5  and  that  the  statements  and 
tables  herein  presented,  will  be  found  valuable  to 
all  readers  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  into  whose  hands 
it  may  come,  and  thus  advance  the  interests  of  our 
beloved  Zion. 

J.  It.  S. 


NOTE. 

The  first  edition  of  this  work  being  exhausted, 
and  a  new  one  called  for,  the  author  has  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity  to  make  some  additions 
to  it.  The  book  having  been  stereotyped  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  insert  the  chief  part  of  the 
new  matter  as  notes  to  the  text.  A  few  alterations 
are  however  made  in  the  body  of  the  work ;  and  a 
new  chapter,  on  the  Parable  of  the  Talents  is  added. 

J.  R  S. 


December  8,  1866. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Advertisement .  3 

The  introduction  of  metallic  money  as  a  measure  of 
value — Some  general  remarks  on  coinage .  7 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  denarius,  or  “  penny”  of  the  Bible .  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  denarius,  or  “penny”  of  the  Bible — Continued .  22 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  silver  stater.  The  “piece  of  money”  in  the  fish’s 

mouth .  28 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  shekel .  33 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  denarius  recording  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem .  38 

5 


6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

The  denarius  recording  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem — 

Continued .  ^ 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  widow’s  mite .  ^ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  widow’s  mite  Continued . 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Money  terms  and  coins  referred  to,  or  used  in  the  Bible; 
with  their  probable  value  stated  in  money  of  the 
United  States . 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  talent . 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  talent — Continued . . . 

CHAPTER  XII. 

A  general  statement  of  the  coins  and  money  terms  of 
the  Bible;  and  tables  of  their  weight  and  value . 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  parable  of  the  Talents . 


Alphabetical  Index 


93 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


Exchanges  of  goods  and  merchandize  were 
the  original  manner  of  commerce,  and  of  busi¬ 
ness  transactions.  There  was  no  buying,  in 
a  proper  sense,  until  money  was  invented. 
But  such  exchanges,  or  barter  of  one  article 
for  another,  being  very  inconvenient,  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  having  some  circulating  medium,  or 
measure  of  value,  arose  at  a  very  early  period 
of  the  world’s  history. 

It  is  well  known  that  cattle  or  oxen  were 
at  first  used  for  the  purposes  of  currency ; 
tne  possession  of  these  animals  constituted  the 
principal  wealth  of  individuals.  Thus,  the 
wealth  of  the  patriarch  Job,  before  and  after 
his  wonderful  trial,  is  stated  in  the  number 
of  his  cattle.  They  were  the  standard  by 

7 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


which  the  value  of  other  articles  of  a  more 

♦* 

variable  character  was  regulated. 

Homer,  who  wrote  about  nine  hundred 
years  before  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  men¬ 
tions  the  use  of  cattle  as  a  medium  of  ex¬ 
change  ;  he  represents  one  of  his  heroes  as 
having  given  his  golden  armour,  worth  a  hun¬ 
dred  oxen,  for  the  brazen  armour  of  an¬ 
other  worth  only  nine  oxen.  So,  also  the 
ancient  Romans  derived  their  term  pecunia 
(money)  from  the  word  pecus ,  which  means 
cattle ;  and  their  most  ancient  coins  have 
upon  them  the  figure  of  an  ox.* 

In  the  course  of  time,  as  society  advanced 
and  commerce  increased,  the  precious  metals, 
namely,  gold  and  silver,  and  also  copper  and 
brass,  were  introduced  as  a  substitute  for  cat¬ 
tle.  Gold  and  silver,  it  is  believed,  were  the 
earliest  metals  discovered.  Possessing  in  an 
eminent  degree,  all  the  properties  which  pe¬ 
culiarly  fit  them  for  a  circulating  medium, 
their  use  as  such  has  been  adopted,  and  con¬ 
tinued  by  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth. 
The  period  when  coined  money,  or  pieces 
*  See  note  1,  page  79. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


9 


of  gold  and  silver,  or  copper  and  brass,  with 
devices  stamped  upon  them,  were  introduced, 
is  involved  in  some  obscurity.  The  best  au¬ 
thorities  place  the  time  about  seven  centuries 
before  the  Christian  era.  But  for  ages  pre¬ 
vious  to  any  actual  coinage,  gold  and  silver 
were  used  as  money  by  weight.  Thus,  it  is 
said  of  the  patriarch  Abraham,  about  1918 
years  b.  c.,  that  he  “was  very  rich  in  cattle, 
in  silver,  and  in  gold.”  Gen.  xiii.  2.  And 
afterwards,  namely,  1860  years  B.  C.,  on  the 
death  of  his  beloved  wife  Sarah,  he  purchased 
the  field  of  Machpelah  for  a  burial-place :  the 
price  of  which  was  paid  in  silver  by  weight. 
“  And  Abraham  hearkened  unto  Ephron ;  and 
Abraham  weighed  to  Ephron  the  silver  which 
he  had  named  in  the  audience  of  the  sons  of 
Heth,  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  current 
with  the  merchant.”  Gen.  xxiii.  16.  The 
shekel  was  a  weight,  and  is  derived  from  a 
Hebrew  word  which  means  to  weigh.  It  was 
not  a  coin  until  several  hundred  years  after¬ 
wards  ;  as  will  be  shown  in  the  chapter  devoted 
to  the  word  Shekel. 


10 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


It  is  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  among 
the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  as  well  as  the 
Jews,  the  same  names  were  used  for  weights 
and  coins.  A  want  of  attention  to  this  fact 
has  led  some  writers  into  an  error  as  to  the 
time  when  coins,  or  single  pieces  of  silver  or 
gold,  were  made.  As  already  said,  the  best 
authorities  put  the  time  of  the  earliest  coin¬ 
age  at  about  seven  centuries  before  Christ. 

o 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
locality  where  the  first  coins  were  struck. 
Some  authorities  give  that  honour  to  the 
island  of  iEgina,  in  Greece;  whilst  others 
assign  it  to  the  city  of  Miletus  in  Asia  Minor. 
The  latter  being  a  colony  from  Greece,  the 
art  may  be  said  to  be  purely  Grecian  ;  and  it 
is  quite  certain  that  the  coinage  of  both 
places,  of  which  there  are  many  specimens 
extant,  were  so  nearly  alike  in  execution  as 
to  place  them  very  nearly  side  by  side  at  the 
origin  of  the  invention. 

The  coins  struck  at  this  early  period  were 
extremely  rude,  and  contained  no  letters  or 
symbols,  other  than  the  one  device  upon  the 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


11 


principal  side.  From  time  to  time  improve¬ 
ments  were  made,  by  placing  the  initial  letter 
of  the  country  where  they  were  issued,  and 
sometimes  the  entire  name.  After  that,  a 
device  in  relief  for  the  reverse  or  opposite 
side  was  adopted ;  and  subsequently  a  legend , 
which,  though  abbreviated  and  sometimes  in¬ 
definite,  affords  some  assistance  in  ascertain¬ 
ing  the  country  and  period  of  issue.  At  a 
later  period,  at  the  time  of  Philip  and  Alex¬ 
ander,  the  portrait  of  the  sovereign  had  its 
place  upon  the  coinage. 


(GOLD  STATER  OF  MILETUS.) 

But  whilst  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  first 
coinage  of  money  was  executed  at  iEgina,  or 
Miletus,  it  seems  to  be  pretty  well  settled  that 
the  first  gold  coins  were  made  at  the  latter 
place.  We  present  herewith  a  fac-simile  re¬ 
presentation  of  the  Stater  of  Miletus,  the 
2 


12 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


first  gold  coin,  so  far  as  onr  information  ex¬ 
tends,  ever  struck.  It  has  the  Lion’s  head 
on  the  obverse ,  or  principal  side,  and  the 
punch  mark  on  the  reverse. 

At  this  early  period  the  impressions  upon 
the  coins  were  made  by  a  hammer  and  punch. 
The  piece  of  metal  to  be  coined  was  first 
fashioned  into  a  semi-bullet  shape  ;  this  being 
placed  upon  the  face  of  the  die,  the  punch 
was  applied  to  it,  and  struck  with  a  hammer.1 

After  some  centuries,  other  appliances 
were  used  ;  and  devices  and  inscriptions  were 
introduced  upon  the  reverse  as  well  as  the 
obverse  of  the  coins.  Without  going  into  a 
statement  of  the  various  changes  and  ad¬ 
vancements  in  coinage  which  were  made,  we 
may  state  generally  that  the  principles  in¬ 
volved  in  their  execution  were  the  same  as 
above  mentioned,  until  the  introduction  of 
the  instrument  which  we  illustrate  in  the  an¬ 
nexed  engraving. 

1  Coins  of  all  Nations;  by  J.  R.  Snowden.  Published 
by  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1860.  To  this  work  we  refer 
our  readers  for  further  details  on  this,  and  other  points  con¬ 
nected  with  the  subject  of  coinage. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


13 


AN  ANCIENT  COINING  PRESS. 


14 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


We  cannot  say  with  certainty  when  this 
instrument  was  invented.  The  one  here  re¬ 
presented  was  used  by  the  Emperor  Constans, 
who  reigned  from  a.  d.  337  to  350.  On  the 
obverse  die,  the  letters  STANS  are  still  visi¬ 
ble.  The  reverse  has  a  Victory,  with  a  trophy 
and  a  palm  branch. 

In  1553,  the  mill  and  screw,  an  invention 
of  French  origin  was  introduced,  and  was 
continued  until  a  recent  period.  It  is  now 
used  for  striking  medals  which  require  re¬ 
peated  blows  to  produce  the  high  relief  which 
generally  characterizes  these  works  of  art. 

The  coining  press  now  used,  was  invented 
in  1833,  by  Thonnelier,  a  Frenchman,  and 
was  soon  after  put  in  practice  in  the  Mint  at 
Paris.  It  was  introduced  into  the  Mint  of 
the  United  States,  at  Philadelphia* in  March, 
1836. 

A  representation  of  the  Steam  Coining- 
Press,  now  in  use  in  the  United  States  Mint, 
at  Philadelphia,  is  on  the  opposite  page. 

This  invention  is  an  amazing  advance  upon 
the  hammer  and  punch  of  the  ancients.  It 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 


15 


A  STEAM-COINING  PRESS. 


2* 


16 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


is  probably  the  nearest  approach  to  perfec¬ 
tion,  in  regard  to  both  accuracy  and  speed 
that  it  is  possible  to  accomplish.  Each  press 
will  strike  from  sixty  to  ninety  pieces  per 
minute,  and  it  requires  the  attendance  of  but 
one  person  to  supply  the  blanks  or  planchets 
from  which  the  coins  are  made. 

These  presses  are  one  of  the  chief  objects 

of  interest  to  the  visitor  to  the  Mint.  The 
•  « 

labour  of  attending  them  is  so  inconsiderable 
that  women  are  employed  therein.  They 
can  perform  the  work  as  well  as  men ;  and  it 
is  commendable  in  this  National  Institution 
that  women  are  thus  employed,  and  also  in 
the  delicate  and  important '  operation  of  ad¬ 
justing  the  weights  of  the  coins  to  the  stand¬ 
ard  required  by  law. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Penny. 


“  And  they  brought  unto  him  a  penny.'’  Matt.  xxii.  13. 

We  propose,  for  the  information  of  our 
young  readers,  to  say  a  few  words  about  the 
coins,  or  pieces  of  money,  which  are  mentioned 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  These  coins  are  not 
only  interesting  memorials  of  antiquity,  but 
they  illustrate  and  confirm  the  historical  re¬ 
ferences  which  are  made  in  the  sacred  text; 

and  so  far  as  their  devices  and  inscriptions  can 

17 


18 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


speak  to  ns,  they  will  be  found  to  corroborate 
its  authenticity.  Whilst  the  truths  of  the 
gospel  should  be  received  with  a  child-like 
confidence  and  reliance,  it  is  interesting  to 
know  that  even  in  some  of  the  most  minute 
details,  the  narratives  of  the  inspired  penmen 
are  shown  to  be  confirmed  by  the  coins  of 
that  period.* 

The  engraving  at  the  head  of  this  article 
presents  a  picture  of  the  “  penny”  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  is  taken  from  a  fine 
specimen  preserved  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Mint  in  Philadelphia. 

Most  of  our  readers,  no  doubt,  have  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  “penny,”  referred  to  in  the 
text  above  cited,  was  a  copper  coin  like  our 
cent ;  but  it  is  not  so ;  it  was  a  silver  coin, 
called  denarion  by  the  Greeks,  denarius  by 
the  Romans ;  and  was,  at  the  time  of  our 
Saviour’s  ministry,  equal  in  value  to  about 
fifteen  cents  of  our  money.  It  has  on  the 
obverse,  or  principal  side,  the  portrait  of 
Tiberius  Coesar,  with  the  following  legend  or 
inscription,  TI.  CAESAR.  HIVI.  AUG.  F.  AUGUS- 
*  See  note  2,  page  SO. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


19 


TUS.  Which  may  be  translated  thus :  Tiberius 
Csesar  Augustus,  son  of  the  divine  Augustus. 
From  this  we  learn  the  propriety  of  our  Lord’s 
inquiry,  a  Whose  is  this  image  and  super¬ 
scription?”  “And  they  say  unto  him,  Cae¬ 
sar’s.”  Matt.  xxii.  20,  21.  The  reverse,  or 
other  side,  has  a  picture  or  representation  of 
a  female  figure  seated,  with  a  kasta  or  spear 
in  her  right  hand,  and  an  olive  branch  in  the 
left.  The  legend  expresses  one  of  the  Em¬ 
peror’s  titles:  Pontie.  maxim.  Pontifex  maxi- 
mus ,  that  is,  Chief  Priest,  or  Pontiff  This 
female  figure  represents  Rome ;  and  as  she 
holds  the  spear,  a  weapon  of  war,  in  her  right 
hand,  and  the  olive  branch,  the  symbol  of 
peace,  in  her  left ,  it  shows  that  she  prefers 
war  to  peace.  The  history  of  Rome  exhibits 
the  truth  of  this  representation.  It  may  in¬ 
terest  our  readers  in  this  connection  to  notice, 
that  the  American  eagle,  which  is  placed  on 
the  principal  coins  of  our  country,  holds  in 
his  right  talon  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  and 
in  his  left ,  the  arrows  of  war,  to  show  that 
our  country  prefers  peace  to  war. 


20 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


The  denarius,  or  “  penny’'  of  Tiberius, 
which  we  have  described,  was  a  very  common 
coin  in  the  Roman  empire,  and  has  been 
found  in  most  of  the  countries  once  under  its 
dominion.  Tiberius  Caesar  reigned  from  the 
year  A.  D.  14,  to  A.  D.  3T ;  that  is  to  say, 
during  the  whole  period  of  our  Lord’s  public 
ministry.  Hence  we  may  reasonably  infer 
that  the  coin,  which  the  Pharisees  and  Hero- 
dians  brought  to  him,  was  of  this  kind.  Hav¬ 
ing  the  image  and  superscription  of  Caesar 
upon  it,  it  furnished  the  Saviour  with  an  op¬ 
portunity  to  inculcate  the  duty  of  obedience 
to  the  civil  magistrates,  and  to  the  laws  of 
the  country,  and  to  teach,  that  due  worship 
and  service  should  at  the  same  time  be  ren¬ 
dered  to  the  great  Creator  of  all  things. 
“  Render,  therefore,”  says  he,  “unto  Caesar, 
the  things  which  are  Caesar’s,  and  unto  God, 
the  things  that  are  God’s,”  ver.  21. 

When  those,  who  “  took  counsel  how  they 
might  entangle  him  in  his  talk,”  heard  these 
words,  they  went  their  way  astonished  and 
confounded.  And  thus  will  it  ever  be  with 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


21 


all  wlio  exalt  their  own  wisdom  above  his,  or 
refuse  to  acknowledge  his  authority,  and  to 
accept  of  him  as  their  Teacher  and  Re¬ 
deemer. 


22 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


\ 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Penny. 


<(  when  he  had  agreed  with  the  labourers  for  a  penny 
a  day,  he  sent  them  into  his  vineyard.”  Matt.  xx.  2. 

A  penny  a  day  seems  a  small  compensa¬ 
tion  for  a  labourer ;  but  we  have,  in  the  pre¬ 
vious  chapter,  seen  that  the  coin  in  question 
was  not  the  penny  of  the  present  day,  but 
was  a  denarius ,  a  silver  coin,  the  intrinsic 
value  of  which  was  fifteen  cents.  This  gives 
one  a  better  idea  of  the  value  of  labour  at 
that  time.  And  it  shows  that  the  good  Sa¬ 
maritan  was  more  liberal  and  generous  than 
the  usual  reading  of  the  text  in  Luke  x.  35, 
would  indicate.  He  gave  the  poor  man  that  fell 
among  thieves  two  silver  coins  of  the  value 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


23 


of  thirty  cents.  We  have  reason  to  believe 
thaf  silver  was  at  that  period  ten  times  as 
valuable  as  it  is  at  present :  in  other  vords, 
thirty  cents  then  would  buy  as  much  as  three 
dollars  would  now.  It  thus  appears  that  the 
Samaritan,  besides  the  other  valuable  things, 
wine  and  oil,  which  he  bestowed  upon  the  in¬ 
jured  man,  gave  the  “host”  money  enough 
to  pay  the  boarding  of  his  guest  for  some 
time,  perhaps  for  several  weeks,  because  this 
interesting  event  happened  in  the  hilly  coun¬ 
try  of  Judea,  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho, 
where  the  charges  at  the  inn  were  probably 
quite  moderate.  Thus  a  liberal  provision  was 
made  for  the  intervening  time  which  would 
elapse  Before  this  benevolent  man  would  re¬ 
turn  from  Jerusalem.  And  in  case  he  should 
be  delayed  in  his  return,  he  said  to  the  inn¬ 
keeper,  “  Take  care  of  this  man,  and  what¬ 
soever  thou  spendest  more,  when  I  come  again 
I  will  repay  thee.”  This  generous  and  neigh¬ 
bourly  conduct  of  the  good  Samaritan  our 
Lord  commends,  with  the  injunction,  “  Go, 
and  do  thou  likewise,”  ver.  37. 

3 


24 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


The  ointment  with  which  Mary  anointed 
our  Saviour,  is  said  to  have  been  “  very 
costly,”  John  xii.  3,  and  “very  precious,” 
Mark  xiv.  3.  “  Some  had  indignation  within 

themselves,  and  murmured  against  her,”  be¬ 
cause  the  ointment  might  have  been  sold  for 
more  than  three  hundred  pence,  and  the  mo¬ 
ney  given  to  the  poor,  Mark  xiv.  4,  5.  The 
propriety  of  saying  that  it  was  very  costly, 
and  very  precious,  appears  very  clearly  when 
we  ascertain  that  the  price  at  which  it  was 
said  that  it  might  have  been  sold,  was  equal 
to  forty-five  dollars  of  our  money.  Mary’s 
offering  was  therefore  a  valuable  one  intrin¬ 
sically  ;  but  much  more  so  as  she  ^wrought 
“  a  good  work,  which  is  spoken  of  throughout 
the  whole  world  as  a  memorial”  of  her  love 
and  devotion  to  her  Saviour,  ver.  9. 

Again,  when  the  5000  persons  were  mi¬ 
raculously  fed,  we  are  told  that  the  disciples 
asked,  “  Shall  we  go  and  buy  two  hundred 
pennyworth  ( denarii )  of  bread,  and  give  them 
to  eat?”  Mark  vi.  3T. 

The  present  value  of  the  penny  is  about  two 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


25 


cents.  We  must  caution  our  readers  against 
the  popular  error  of  using  the  words  penny  and 
cent ,  as  equal  terms.  They  belong  to  differ¬ 
ent  systems  of  accounts  and  coinage,  and  are 
of  different  values,  and  therefore  have  no 
analogy  with  each  other. 

It  would  seem  to  be  very  unreasonable  to 
talk  of  feeding  such  a  multitude  with  four 
hundred  cents  worth  of  bread.  But  when  we 
know  that  two  hundred  pence  were  equal  to 
thirty  dollars  of  our  money,  we  can  readily 
understand  how,  with  that  sum  bread  enough 
might  have  been  purchased  not  only  to  enable 
66  every  one  of  them  to  take  a  little,”  John 
vi.  T  ;  but  if  the  proportionate  value  is  con¬ 
sidered,  the  money  would  have  bought  a  loaf 
of  bread  for  each  one  of  the  great  multitude 
that  were  there  assembled.  The  great  Mas¬ 
ter  of  the  feast,  however,  preferred  to  feed 
them  by  his  creative  power,  and  thus  the  five 
barley  loaves,  and  the  two  small  fishes,  were 
miraculously  increased  ;  u  and  they  did  all  eat 
and  were  filled  ;  and  they  took  uf>  twelve  bas¬ 
kets  full  of  the  fragments.”  Mark  vi.  42,  43. 


26 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


It  is  difficult  to  determine  with  accuracy 
the  relative  value  of  money  in  different  pe¬ 
riods  of  the  world.  The  pieces  of  the  same 
denomination,  coined  at  different  times, 
greatly  varied  in  weight  and  in  fineness,  or 
in  the  proportion  of  pure  silver  to  the  alloy 
of  base  metal  used  in  the  coinage.  The  de¬ 
narius  of  Tiberius  weighed  about  sixty  grains ; 
and  contained  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  silver, 
and  ten  per  cent,  of  alloy  ;  and  was  worth,  as 
we  have  seen,  about  fifteen  cents ;  but  as  the 
Roman  empire  declined,  the  denarius  was 
diminished  in  weight  and  fineness,  until  at 
length  it  fell  to  about  the  value  of  six 
cents.  It  was  perhaps  on  the  model  of  this 
reduced  denarius  that  the  English  penny  was 
established.  The  pound  sterling  as  originally 
constituted  in  England,  and  up  to  about  A.  D. 
*1300,  was  composed  of  a  troy  pound  weight 
of  silver.  As  there  are  5T60  grains  in  a  troy 
pound,  and  as  the  penny  is  the  two  hundred 
and  fortieth  part  of  a  pound  sterling,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  penny  of  our  English  ances¬ 
tors  weighed  twenty-four  grains  ;  from  which 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


27 


comes  the  term  “  penny-weight.”  At  the 
present  mint  value  of  silver,  namely  122J 
cents  per  ounce — twenty-four  grains,  or  one 
penny-weight,  is  worth  six  cents  :  but  as  one 
pound  troy  of  silver,  is  now  in  England 
coined  into  three  pounds  and  six  shillings 
sterling,  the  weight  of  the  penny  would  be 
only  about  seven  grains.  This  being  too 
small  for  a  coin,  the  copper  penny  has  been 
substituted  for  the  silver  penny.  The  Ro¬ 
man  term  is  still  preserved  in  the  English 
money  of  account  of  pounds,  shillings,  and 
pence ;  thus  £.  s.  d.  (Libra,  Sestertius,  De¬ 
narius.)  From  these  considerations  it  would 
appear  that  the  translation  of  the  word  dena¬ 
rius  into  penny,  is  legitimate  and  proper  in 
one  sense,  although  it  gives  an  incorrect  idea 
of  the  value  of  that  ancient  coin. 

We  have  thus  endeavoured  to  show  that  it 
is  useful,  as  well  as  interesting,  to  learn  some¬ 
thing  of  the  value  of  the  denarius,  inasmuch 
as  it  serves  to  render  more  clear  several  pas¬ 
sages  in  the  sacred  writings. 


28 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  III. 


The  Silver  Stater • 


«  And  when  they  were  come  to  Capernaum,  they  that  re¬ 
ceived  tribute-money  came  to  Peter,  and  said,  Doth  not  your 
Master  pay  tribute?  He  saith,  Yes.”  Matt.  xvii.  24,  25. 
“  Go  thou  to  the  sea,  and  cast  a  hook,  and  take  up  the  fish 
that  first  cometh  up ;  and  when  thou  hast  opened  his  mouth, 
thou  shalt  find  a  piece  of  money :  that  take,  and  give  unto 
them  for  me  and  thee.”  Ver.  27. 

The  piece  of  money  here  referred  to,  is  the 
silver  stater;*  otherwise  called  a  tetradrachm, 
that  is  to  say,  four  drachmas.  It  is  a  Greek 
coin  of  the  Syrian  series.  It  weighs  250 
grains,  and  being  of  the  fineness  of  about  95 
per  cent.,  its  value,  at  the  Mint  price  of  silver, 

*  NotG  3,  page  82. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


29 


is  about  sixty-seven  cents.  When  the  shekel 
had  become  obsolete,  the  stater  being  nearest 
to  it  in  value  circulated  in  its  stead.  At 
length  it  was  superseded  by  the  money  of  the 
conquering  Romans. 

The  engravings  given  with  this  chapter  will 
afford  our  readers  a  good  idea  of  this  coin. 
They  are  both  staters;  one  is  a  coin  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes ;  and  the  other  of 
Antiochus  Grypus  ( Grrups ,  signifies  aquiline) 
from  the  curved  shape  of  his  nose.  The 
obverse  on  each  presents  the  head  of  the 
king.  On  one  of  the  reverses  Jupiter  is  re¬ 
presented  seated,  holding  a  figure  of  Victory 
in  his  right  hand,  and  the  hasta  or  spear  in 
his  left.  On  the  other  reverse  Jupiter  stand¬ 
ing,  with  a  crescent  on  his  head,  holding  a 


30 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


spear  and  supporting  a  star.  The  titles  on 
both  are  the  same — Basileos  Antiochou  Bpi- 
phanous — (Money)  of  King  Antiochus  the  Il¬ 
lustrious.  The  same  title,  with  similar  devices, 
first  appeared  on  the  coins  of  the  first  king  of 
that  name,  who  was  so  famous  for  his  wars  with 
the  Jews;  but  the  epithet,  “ a  vile  person,” 
which  was  given  to  him  by  the  prophet  Daniel 
more  than  four  hundred  years  before  he  was 
born,  agrees  better  with  his  true  character. 
Dan.  xi.  21.  Polybius,  who  wrote  in  the 
time  of  this  prince,  says  he  should  rather  be 
called  Epimanes,  or  the  madman.  As  his  life 
was  one  of  wickedness,  impiety,  and  cruelty, 
so  his  death,  as  is  recorded  in  the  book  of 
Maccabees,  was  an  awful  one.  2  Mac.  ix.  9. 

At  the  time  of  our  Saviour’s  mission,  the 
stater  we  have  described  was  in  circulation  in 
Judea ;  and  it  seems,  as  above  stated,  to  have 
been  taken  interchangeably  with  the  Jewish 
shekel.  The  “  tribute”  mentioned  in  the 
text,  was  the  didrachm  ;  and  this  was  equal 
to  the  half -shekel ,  which  each  Jew  above  the 
age  of  twenty  years,  was  required  to  pay  to- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


31 


wards  the  expenses  of  maintaining  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  the  sanctuary.  Exod.  xxxviii.  26. 
And  hence  the  stater  in  the  fish  s  mouth,  be¬ 
ing  equal  to  two  half-shekels,  was  sufficient 
to  pay  for  Peter  as  well  as  for  Christ.  Thou 
shalt  find  a  piece  of  money  (stater,)  that  take 
and  give  unto  them  for  me  and  thee. 

The  payment  of  the  half-shekel,  which 
at  first  was  applied  to  the  service  of  the 
Tabernacle,  and  afterwards  to  the  Temple, 
was  not  compulsory.  The  money  did  not  go 
to  Caesar,  or  the  civil  magistrate,  like  the  de¬ 
narius,  or  penny,  referred  to  by  our  Lord  on 
a  subsequent  occasion.  Matt.  xxii.  19.  And 
it  was  at  first,  we  learn,  only  collected  occa¬ 
sionally,  as  it  was  wanted  for  the  service  of 
the  sanctuary,  although  it  afterwards  became 
an  annual  payment.  Christ  in  his  inquiries 
and  remarks  to  Peter,  shows  that,  as  he  was 
the  Son  of  God,  and  therefore  the  Lord  of 
the  Temple,  he  was  under  no  obligation  to 
pay  the  didrcLchm ,  (translated  a  tribute.  ) 
Lest,  however,  any  should  take  offence  at  his 
refusal,  as  if  he  did  not  regard  the  temple- 


32 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


worship,  or  had  come  to  destroy  the  law,  he 
would  waive  his  privilege  and  pay  it.  And 
this  he  did  in  a  way  which  showed  he  was 
“the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.” 

This  miracle  testifies  that  although  he  was 
externally  poor,  yet  he  was  Lord  over  nature  ; 
and  even  the  fishes  of  the  sea  were  under  his 
control,  and  subservient  to  his  requirements. 
It  may  be  admitted  that  it  is  no  absolute  mira¬ 
cle  that  a  coin  should  be  found  in  a  fish’s 
mouth :  hut  by  whatever  means  the  piece  of 
money  was  lodged  there,  Omniscience  alone 
could  discover  it  there,  and  Omnipotence  in¬ 
sure  its  being  brought  to  Peter  s  hook.  Had 
he  chosen  to  exercise  his  power,  all  the  trea¬ 
sures  of  the  land  and  sea  might  have  been 
placed  at  his  feet.  But  he  came  into  the 
world  to  be  a  suffering  Saviour  and  Redeemer. 
May  your  hearts,  my  readers,  go  forth  in  love 
and  gratitude  to  Him  who,  “though  he  was 
rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that 
ye  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich.” 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Shekel. 


{i  Then  one  of  the  twelve,  called.  Judas  Iscariot,  went  unto 
the  chief  priests,  and  said  unto  them,  ‘  What  will  ye  give  me, 
and  I  will  deliver  him  unto  you  V  And  they  covenanted 
with  him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.”  Matt.  xxvi.  14,  15. 


The  silver  pieces  that  were  given  to  Judas, 
we  have  reason  to  believe,  were  shekels.  In 
the  original  text,  no  particular  coins  are  men-  ■ 
tioned ;  but  a  Greek  word  is  used  ( arguria ) 
which  means  “pieces  of  silver .”  The  shekel 
was  originally  a  weight.  The  first  form  in 
which  money  was  used  by  the  Jews,  and  by 
all  other  nations  of  which  we  have  any  know¬ 
ledge,  was  that  of  pieces  of  metal  without  any 
regular  shape,  or  any  marks  or  devices  upon 


84 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


them.  The  precious  metals,  namely,  gold 
and  silver,  passed  by  weight.  Thus  it  is  said 
of  the  purchase  made  by  Abraham,  of  the 
cave  and  field  of  Maclipelah,  “  And  Abraham 
hearkened  unto  Ephron,  and  Abraham 
weighed  to  Ephron  the  silver  which  he  had 
named  in  the  audience  of  the  sons  of  Ileth, 
four  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  current  with 
the  merchant.”  Gen.  xxiii.  16. 

In  paying  for  the  field  of  Hanameel,  the 
prophet  Jeremiah  “  weighed  him  the  money, 
even  seventeen  shekels  of  silver  ;  and  sub¬ 
scribed  the  evidence  and  sealed  it,  and  took 
witnesses,  and  weighed  him  the  money  in  the 
balances.”  Jer.  xxxii.  9,  10.  The  weight  of 
a  shekel  was  a  little  less  than  one  half  of  an 
ounce  troy  ;  the  term  “  current  with  the  mer¬ 
chant,”  probably  refers  to  the  purity  of  #he 
silver,  which  was  about  ninety-five  per  cent, 
.fine ;  the  consequent  value  of  the  shekel  of 
silver  was  fifty-eight  cents  of  our  money.  The 
weight  and  value  of  the  shekel  will  be  further 
noticed  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  shekel  was  not  a 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


35 


coin  in  Abraham’s  time,  nor  during  the  entire 
period  embraced  in  the  Old  Testament.  It 
first  appears  as  a  coin  in  the  time  of  the  Mac¬ 
cabees,  who  lived  about  140  B.  c.  The 
amount  of  silver  in  the  coin  is  the  same  as 
was  contained  in  the  piece  of  silver  denomi¬ 
nated  a  shekel :  and,  therefore,  took  the  name 
of  a  shekel.  The  engraving  at  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  this  chapter  gives  a  faithful  representa¬ 
tion  of  one  of  these  coins.  It  will  be  seen  that 
on  one  side  is  the  golden  cup  that  had  manna, 
(see  Exod.  xvi.  33  ;  and  Heb.  ix.  4,)  with  the 
inscription,  in  Hebrew  character,  “  She¬ 
kel  of  Israel;”  on  the  other  side  appears 
Aaron’s  rod  that  budded,  with  the  legend,  in 
the  same  character,  “  Jerusalem  the  Holy.” 
This  specimen  is  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Mint  at  Philadelphia,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  rare  and  interesting  coins  in  the  collec¬ 
tion. 

To  the  betrayal  of  the  Saviour  by  Judas, 
reference  appears  to  be  made  by  the  prophet 
Zechariah,  “  So  they  weighed  for  my  price 
thirty  pieces  of  silver  ;”  “  and  the  Lord  said 
4 


86 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


unto  me,  Cast  it  to  the  potter.  A  goodly 
price  that  I  was  prized  at  of  them.”  Zech. 
xi.  12,  13.  By  the  law,  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  was  the  price  of  a  servant  or  slave. 
Exod.  xxi.  32.  And  it  appears  to  have  been 
a  part  of  the  office  of  the  priests  to  put  a 
value  upon  devoted  things.  Lev.  xxvii.  8. 
The  events  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 
fulfil  these  and  other  wonderful  prophecies 
respecting  the  Messiah.  He  “made  himself 
of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form 
of  a  servant.”  Phil.  ii.  T.  The  valuation  was 
made  by  the  priests.  “  What  will  ye  give 
me,  and  I  will  deliver  him  unto  you?”  says 
Judas  to  the  priests.  “And  they  covenanted 
with  him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.”  Matt, 
xxvi.  15.  “  Then  Judas  which  had  betrayed 

him,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  condemned,  re¬ 
pented  himself,  and  brought  again  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and  el¬ 
ders.”  “And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of 
silver  in  the  temple  and  departed,  and  went 
and  hanged  himself.  ’  ’  “  And  the  chief  priests 

took  the  silver  pieces  and  said,  It  is  not  law- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


37 


ful  for  to  put  them  into  the  treasury,  because 
it  is  the  price  of  blood.,,  “  And  they  took 
counsel  and  bought  with  them  the  potter  s 
field  to  bury  strangers  in.”  Matt,  xxvii.  3,  . 
5,  6,  and  7. 

Thus  doe-s  the  shekel — one  of  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver — become  a  lasting  memorial 
of  the  betrayal  of  our  Saviour,  and  of  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Scriptures.  ‘‘The  son  of 
man  came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many.” 

The  contemplation  of  these  amazing  events 
should  fill  every  heart  with  love  and  gratitude 
to  the  blessed  Redeemer,  “  In  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgive¬ 
ness  of  sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  his 
grace.” 


38 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Denarius  of  Vespasian  recording  the  conqtiest 

of  Judea. 


“  And  his  disciples  came  to  him,  for  to  show  him  the  • 
buildings  of  the  temple.  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  See  ye 
not  all  these  things  ?  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  there  shall  not 
he  left  here  one  stone  upon  another  that  shall  not  he  thrown 
down.”  Matt.  xxiv.  1,  2. 

The  pictures  at  tlie  head  of  this  chapter 
represent  a  denarius,  struck  to  commemorate 
the  destruction  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  It 
is  a  silver  coin,  weighing  about  fifty-two 
grains.  It  contains  nearly  seventy-eight  per 
cent,  of  pure  silver,  and  is  of  the  value  of 
about  eleven  cents  of  our  money.  A  speci¬ 
men  of  this  coin  is  preserved  in  the  cabinet 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


39 


of  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia.  The  obverse  has 
a  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  with  an 
inscription  giving  his  name  and  titles.  We 
may  here  note  that  the  name  Augustus — 
AUGL — on  this  coin,  was  assumed  by  Tibe¬ 
rius  as  an  official  title,  and  was  continued 
by  his  successors.  The  reverse  presents  a 
female  captive,  with  her  hands  bound  be¬ 
fore  her,  standing  near  a  palm-tree,  with 
the  legend  ivdaea  devicta,  Judea  van¬ 
quished. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  was  foretold 
by  our  Saviour,  about  forty  years  before  that 
remarkable  event  happened.  These  prophe¬ 
cies  are  chiefly  recorded  in  the  twenty-fourth 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew.  They  related  not 
only  to  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  of  the 
temple  and  of  the  Jews,  but  they  contained  a 
timely  warning  to  the  Christians  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  by  which  they  knew,  from  the  signs  of 
the  times,  that  desolation  was  near  at  hand, 
and  that  they  should  consult  their  safety  and 
flee  into  the  mountains.  This  the  disciples 

were  enabled  to  do,  in  consequence  of  the  de- 
4  * 


40 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


lays  by  the  Romans  in  carrying  on  the  war, 
and  in  making  the  actual  investment  of  the 
city. 

Vespasian  was  Emperor  of  Rome  from  A.  D. 
69  to  A.  d.  7 9.  He  had  previously,  under  the  or¬ 
ders  of  the  emperor  Nero,  acted  as  governor  of 
J udea,  and  commanded  the  army  which  invaded 
that  country.  Many  of  the  cities  of  Palestine 
had  surrendered  to  him ;  and  he  had  made  pre¬ 
parations  to  besiege  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 
But  he  was  called  away  by  the  civil  wars  be¬ 
tween  Otho  and  Vitellius  ;  and  on  the  death 
of  the  latter, — who  fell  by  the  hands  of  his 
own  soldiers — Vespasian  was  declared  Em¬ 
peror  by  the  army.  The  city  of  Jerusalem 
was  not  actually  besieged  until  after  Vespasian 
was  confirmed  in  the  empire,  and  Titus,  his 
son,  was  sent  by  him  to  command  the  forces 
in  Judea.  By  Titus  the  city  was  taken,  and 
destroyed  under  circumstances  of  cruelty  and 
horror  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  No  wonder  the  compassionate  Saviour, 
whose  prophetic  vision  foresaw  the  dreadful 
calamities  which  would  fall  upon  the  inhabi- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


41 


tants  of  that  devoted  city,  wept  over  it,  and 
exclaimed,  “  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep 
not  for  me,  hut  weep  for  yourselves  and  for 
your  children.”  u  Behold,  your  house  is  left 
unto  you  desolate.” 

The  wonderful  fulfilment  of  our  Saviour’s 
prophecies  respecting  the  destruction  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  afford  the  clearest  evidence  of  the  di¬ 
vine  character  of  his  mission.  u  As  he  was, 
says  Bishop  Newton,  “  the  great  subject  of 
prophecy,  so  he  was  an  illustrious  prophet 
himself;  and  as  he  excelled  in  all  other  spi¬ 
ritual  gifts  and  graces,  so  was  he  eminent  in 
this  also,  and  gave  ample  proofs  of  his  divine 
commission  by  his  prophecies  as  well  as  his 
miracles.” 

There  were  several  varieties  of  coins  struck 
in  gold  and  silver,  and  in  copper  and  brass, 
by  Vespasian,  and  by.  Titus,  who  succeeded 
his  father  on  the  throne,  to  commemorate  the 
conquest  of  Judea  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  Some  of  these  are  mentioned 
and  described  by  several  writers  on  the  sub¬ 
ject.  One  of  them  is  stated  to  have  been 


42 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


issued  in  the  very  year  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem;  namely,  when  Vespasian  was 
Consul  the  third  time,  in  the  year  of  Rome, 
823,  or  A.  D.  70. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


43 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Denarius  recording  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 


“  For  the  days  shall  come  upon  thee,  that  thine  enemies 
shall  cast  a  trench  about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round,  and 
keep  thee  in  on  every  side,  and  shall  lay  thee  even  with  the 
ground,  and  thy  children  within  thee ;  and  they  shall  not 
leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another;  because  thou  knewest 
not  the  time  of  thy  visitation.”  Luke  xix.  43,  44. 

The  best  authorities  inform  us  that  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Jerusalem  took  place  on  the  8th 
day  of  September,  A.  d.  70.  There  were 
also  coins  issued  by  Vespasian  in  A.  D.  71, 
commemorative  of  the  conquest  of  Judea,  and 
in  subsequent  years  during  his  reign;  and 
also  by  Titus,  his  son,  who  became  Emperor 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  A.  D  .  79.  The  is¬ 
suing  of  these  coins  several  years  subsequent 
to  the  conquest  of  that  country  shows  that 


44 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


the  Romans  “  remembered  with  pride  the 
subjugation  of  the  rebellious  Jews.  Writers 
on  the  subject  of  Roman  coins  describe  fifteen 
varieties,  which  refer  to  the  conquest  of  Ju¬ 
dea.  We  present  to  our  readers,  with  this 
chapter,  a  good  representation  of  one  of  these 
pieces.  It  is  in  the  collection  of  J.  Ledyard 
Hodge,  Esqr.,  of  Philadelphia,  who  has 
kindly  permitted  us  to  make  engravings  from 
it.  The  obverse,  or  principal  side,  presents 
the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Y espasian  crowned 
with  laurels  ;  his  name  and  titles  are  inscribed 
around  the  coin.  The  reverse  exhibits  a  fe¬ 
male  figure  seated  on  the  ground  at  the  foot 
of  a  trophy,  or  memorial  of  victory.  Tro¬ 
phies,  among  the  Romans,  usually  consisted 
of  the  arms,  shields,  helmets,  &c.,  taken  from 
a  defeated  enemy.  The  figure  of  the  captive 
seated  on  the  ground  is  expressive  of  the  com¬ 
plete  subjugation  of  the  country,  and  the 
desolation  of  its  inhabitants.  It  verifies  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  “  And  her  gates  shall 
lament  and  mourn ;  and  she,  being  desolate , 
shall  sit  upon  the  ground .”  Isa.  iii.  26. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


45 


It  is  not  desirable  in  a  brief  work  of  this 
character,  to  give  the  details  of  the  fulfilment 
of  our  Lord’s  predictions  respecting  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple. 
On  this  point,  and  others  connected  with  this 
interesting  subject,  we  refer  our  readers  to 
an  admirable  treatise  published  by  the  Pres¬ 
byterian  Board  of  Publication.  The  title  of 
this  little  book  (an  18mo.,  of  about  100  pages) 
is  u  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  an  irresis¬ 
tible  proof  of  the  divine  origin  of  Christi¬ 
anity.” 

We  close  this  chapter  with  a  quotation  from 
its  pages.  “  In  executing  the  command  of  Titus, 
relative  to  the  demolition  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Roman  soldiers  not  only  threw  down  the 
buildings,  but  even  dug  up  their  foundations, 
and  so  completely  levelled  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  city,  that  a  stranger  would  scarcely 
have  known  that  it  had  ever  been  inhabited 
by  human  beings.  Thus  was  this  great  city, 
which,  only  five  months  before,  had  been 
crowded  with  nearly  two  millions  of  people, 
who  gloried  in  its  impregnable  strength,  en- 


46 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


tirely  depopulated,  and  levelled  with  the 
ground.  And  thus  also  was  our  Lord’s  pre¬ 
diction,  that  her  enemies  should  4  lay  her  even 
with  the  ground,'  and  ‘should  not  leave  in  her 
one  stone  upon  another,’  most  strikingly  and 
fully  accomplished.” 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


47 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Mite. 


“And  there  came  a  certain  poor  widow,  and  she  threw  in 
two  mites.”  Mark  xii.  42. 

The  Lepton ,  translated  J\Lite ,  is  tlie  lowest 
denomination  of  money  mentioned  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  writings.  The  precise  value  of  it  is  a 
matter  of  question.  But  it  may  with  suffi¬ 
cient  accuracy  be  stated  to  he  nearly  equal 
to  the  one-fifth  part  of  our  cent.  As  the 
word  n^te  means  a  very  little  particle  or 
quantity,  so  it  will  he  seen  by  the  engraving, 
which  stands  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  that 
the  coin  is  a  very  small  one.  The  engraving 
presents  the  exact  size  and  appearance  of  the 
one  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Mint.  This  speci¬ 
men  of  the  mite  was  found  on  Mount  Ophel, 
near  the  site  of  the  ancient  temple  of  J eru- 
salem.  It  has  but  little  distinguishing  in  the 
5 


48 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


marks  upon  it,  except  the  first  letter  of  the 
Greek  word  Astitop,  (Lepton).  It  weighs 
ten  grains. 

The  lepton,  or  mite,  was  a  mixture  of  cop¬ 
per  and  tin,  and  was  coined  by  the  numeious 
Greek  cities,  colonies,  and  petty  states,  which 
were  scattered  around  the  Mediterranean 
sea.  The  devices  or  figures  upon  them,  are 
of  various  kinds,  though,  usually  the  head  of 
a  goddess  appears  upon  one  side.  The  one 
we  are  considering,  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
was  coined  as  long  ago  as  the  time  when  our 
Saviour  was  at  Jerusalem — “  and  beheld  how 
the  people  cast  money  into  the  treasury  \ 
and  as  it  was  found  near  the  site  of  the  tem¬ 
ple,  it  possesses  peculiar  interest.  Jt  was  in 
the  temple  where  the  box  was  placed  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  ;  and  there  the  poor  widow  threw  in  her 
two  mites.  The  smallness  of  the  offering  did 
not  prevent  the  Saviour  from  noticing  it.  On 
the  contrary,  he  called  the  special  attention 
of  his  disciples  to  her  gift,  and  declared  to 
them,  That  this  poor  widow  hath  cast  more 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


49 


in  than  all  they  which  have  cast  into  the 
treasury,  ver.  43.  The  reason  why  our  Lord 
thus  commended  her  offering,  appears  in  the 
next  verse.  “For  all  they  did  cast  in  of 
their  abundance ;  but  she  of  her  want  did 
cast  in  all  that  she  had,  even  all  her  living, 
ver.  44.  It  is  the  giving  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  in  proportion  to  our  ability,  and  with 
a  sincere  desire  to  advance  his  kingdom  upon 
earth,  that  will  render  our  offerings  accept¬ 
able  to  him.  We  should  not  despise  the  day 
of  small  things  ;  but  make  our  donations  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  means  which  Providence  has 
bestowed  upon  us.  Nor  should  the  influence 
of  small  contributions  be  overlooked.  When 
they  ar£  brought  together  they  produce  im¬ 
portant  results.  As  in  the  natural,  so  in  the 
moral  world. — 

“  Little  drops  of  water, 

Little  grains  of  sand, 

Make  the  mighty  ocean, 

And  the  beauteous  land.” 

“  Little  seeds  of  mercy, 

Sown  by  youthful  hands, 

Grow  to  bless  the  nations, 

Far  in  heathen  lands.” 


50 


COINS  OE  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  JUite. 


“  This  poor  widow  hath  cast  more  in  than  all  they  which 
have  cast  into  the  treasury.”  Mark  xii.  43. 

We  have  seen  in  the  previous  chapter  that 
the  mite, — two  of  which  the  widow  in  the  text 
cast  into  the  treasury, — was  a  very  small 
coin,  and  of  very  little  value.  It  would  take, 
for  example,  Jive  hundred  of  them  to  make  a 
dollar.  We  see  from  this,  that  it  is  much 
less  than  a  cent,  for  we  very  well  know  that 
one  hundred  cents  make  a  dollar.  But  the 
value  of  money  was  much  greater  then  than 
it  is  now.  In  a  former  chapter  we  stated  it 
to  he  about  ten  times  greater.  We  mean  by 
that,  to  say  that  a  coin  equal  in  value  to  ten 
cents,  would  have  bought  as  much  then,  as 
one  hundred  cents  would  buy  at  the  present 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


51 


time.  The  widow’s  two  mites  being  equal  to 
four  mills,  would  buy  as  much  as  four  cents 
would  now.  Her  donation,  therefore,  may  be 
said  to  be  equal  to  four  cents.  It  is  probable 
that  two  mites  at  that  time  was  a  day’s  wages 
for  a  hired  woman,  and  hence  they  are 
termed  “her  living.” 

The  incident  we  are  considering  is  related 
by  Luke  (xxi.  1,  &c.,)  as  well  as  by  Matthew; 
but  neither  of  the  apostles  mentions  the  spe¬ 
cial  purpose  to  which  the  contributions  re¬ 
ceived  at  the  temple  were  applied.  Some 
learned  writers  are  of  opinion  that  they  were 
employed  to  buy  wood  for  the  altar,  and  other 
necessaries  for  the  temple,  not  provided  for 
in  any  other  way.  Others  suggest  that  the 
object  was  to  provide  a  public  fund  to  be 
used  for  charitable  purposes.  Whether  the 
contributions  were  to  be  applied  to  either  or 
both  of  these  objects,  the  poor  widow  exhib¬ 
ited  her  piety  and  liberality,  by  casting  into 
the  treasury  all  that  she  had  to  live  upon  that 
day,  or  as  the  text  reads,  “  even  all  her  liv¬ 
ing,”  ver.  44.  Christ  noticed  the  gift,  and 
5  * 


52 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


graciously  commended  her  for  it.  He  knew 
she  did  it  from  pure  and  good  motives  ;  and, 
in  view  of  her  circumstances,  he  regarded  it 
as  a  greater  act  of  devotion  and  piety  than 
the  larger  contributions  of  the  rich. 

The  learned  Dr.  Scott,  on  this  subject  ob¬ 
serves,  that  doubtless  our  Lord  saw  hfer  heart, 
humble  and  upright,  devoted  to  God,  and  de¬ 
sirous  to  express  her  affection  to  his  worship ; 
and  that  she  did  not  cast  in  her  pittance  out 
of  any  affectation  of  singularity,  or  expecta¬ 
tion  of  being  applauded  for  it,  but  depending 
on  the  promises  and  providences  of  God,  and 
out  of  love  to  his  name.  Others  in  such  cir¬ 
cumstances  would  have  pleaded  that  so  small 
a  sum  would  be  of  no  use,  and  that  they  could 
not  spare  it ;  and  many  would  have  derided 
this  poor  widow,  or  dissuaded  her  from  mak¬ 
ing  any  oblation  ;  but  our  Lord  approved  and 
commended  her  conduct ;  thus  teaching  us 
many  important  lessons  to  direct  and  en¬ 
courage  us  in  our  several  duties. 

We  see  in  this  incident  that  our  Lord 
watches  the  treasury,  and  beholds  how  the 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


53 


people  cast  money  therein,  ver.  41 ;  and  we 
learn  from  it  that  if  our  donations  to  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  piety  and  Christian  benevolence  are 
made  according  to  our  ability,  and  from 
proper  motives,  they  will  he  graciously  ac¬ 
cepted  by  him.  His  requirements  extend 
only  to  what  we  have,  and  not  to  that  which 
we  do  not  possess. 


54 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  notice  of  some  money  terms  used  in  the  Ttible ,  and  of 
coins  referred  to  therein ,  with  their  probable  value 
stated  in  money  of  the  United  States . 

1.  The  shekel  is  generally  put  by  weight, 
at  half  an  ounce  avoirdupois : — that  ounce 
being  composed  of  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  grains.  We  adopt,  however, 
the  ounce  troy  of  480  grains  in  our  calcula¬ 
tions. 

The  shekel  described  in  a  previous  chapter 
is  in  a  fine  state  of  preservation.  It  weighs 
217  grains,  and  is  of  the  fineness  of  950 
thousandths  :  that  is  to  say,  in  1000  parts  by 
weight,  950  are  of  pure  silver,  and  the  re¬ 
maining  part  is  of  an  inferior  metal  or  alloy. 
Other  specimens  noticed  by  various  authori¬ 
ties  make  the  weight  and  fineness  about  the 
same.  The  silver  coins  of  the  United  States,  in 
like.  manner  with  most  modern  nations,  are 
composed  of  900  parts  of  pure  silver  in  every 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


55 


1000  parts  of  the  metal  used  in  coinage. 
Reducing  the  shekel  to  the  standard  silver  of 
the  United  States,  the  weight  of  it  may  pro¬ 
perly  be  stated  as  equal  to  229  grains  of  that 
standard.  The  Mint  price  of  silver  is  122 
cents  5  mills  per  ounce.  This  price  was  fixed 
in  conformity  with  the  market-price  of  silver 
in  Europe  and  in  this  country,  before  the  re¬ 
cent  introduction  of  a  government  paper 
currency,  and  it  affords  the  best  basis  upon 
which  to  calculate  the  value  of  the  shekel. 
At  this  rate  the  value  of  the  shekel  is  58  cents. 

It  is  proper  to  notice  the  fact,  that  since 
the  year  1853,  as  authorized  by  the  act  of 
Congress,  of  March  3,  in  that  year,  the  silver 
coins  of  the  United  States  below  the  denomi¬ 
nation  of  the  dollar  are  issued  at  the  rate  of 
125  cents  per  ounce  of  standard  silver ;  at 
that  rate  the  shekel  would  be  worth  a  little 
more  than  58  cents :  but  this  money  being 
undervalued  to  keep  it  in  the  country,  is  not 
a  proper  rate  of  value  for  silver  bullion.  An 
under-valuing  for  a  similar  purpose,  but  to  a 
greater  extent,  is  made  in  English  silver 


56 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


money,  since  the  year  1816.  We,  therefore, 
put  the  value  of  the  shekel  at  58  cents,  as 
above  stated.  This  was,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  the  value  of  the  silver  contained  in 
the  sacred  shekel,  or  shekel  of  the  sanctuary. 
The  shekel  of  the  King,  hereafter  to  be  no¬ 
ticed,  was  the  one-half  of  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary. 

We  have  been  thus  particular  in  stating 
the  value  of  the  shekel,  because  by  it  we  ob¬ 
tain  the  unit,  from  which  we  can  with  reason¬ 
able  certainty  state  the  value  of  the  other 
money  terms  used  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 

2.  The  Bekah,  or  half-shekel.  This  piece 
of  money  or  coin  is  sometimes  called  the 
royal  or  profane  shekel.  The  poll-tax  paid 
by  the  Jews  for  the  support  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  afterward  of  the  temple,  and  subsequently 
to  the  Roman  government,  was  paid  in  this 
denomination.  The  value  of  the  Bekah  is 
29  cents. 

8.  The  Zuza.  This  piece  is  not  named  in 
the  Scriptures,  but  is  put  in  most  of  the  ta¬ 
bles  of  Jewish  money.  It  was  the  fourth  part 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


57 


of  a  shekel,  and  is  referred  to  in  1  Samuel, 
ix.  8.  Value,  14  cents  and  5  mills. 

4.  The  Gerah.  The  twentieth  part  of  a 
shekel.  Value,  2  cents  and  9  mills. 

5.  The  Maneh.  This  term  was  used  for 
silver  as  well  as  gold.  The  weight  of 
it  was  equal  to  sixty  shekels :  therefore, 
the  maneh  of  silver  was  of  the  value  of 
$84.80. 

Writers  usually  arrive  at  the  value  of  ancient 
gold  and  silver  coins  and  money  terms, 
by  adopting  the  proportion  between  these 
metals  as  used  in  modern  times.  This 
proportion  in  Europe  and  America,  is  about 
sixteen  to  one ;  and  the  tables  of  the  va¬ 
lues  of  ancient  coins  in  our  Bibles  and  com¬ 
mentaries  are  fixed  upon  that  ratio.  But 
that  proportion  over-states  the  value  of  gold 
among  the  Jews  and  the  neighbouring  na¬ 
tions.  From  a  careful  examination  of  the 
various  authorities  on  this  subject,  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  at  the  periods  when 
the  money-terms  of  the  Bible  were  used, 
the  proportion  between  the  values  of  gold 


58  COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

and  silver  was  as  ten  to  one :  that  is  to 
say,  one  ounce  of  gold  was  worth  as  much 
as  ten  ounces  of  silver.  Adopting  this 
proportion,  the  maneh  of  gold  was  worth 
$348.00. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


59 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Talent. 

The  weight  of  the  J ewish  talent  was  equal 
to  3000  shekels.  The  shekel,  as  we  have 
shown,  weighed  217  grains :  consequently 
the  talent  weighed  651,000  grains,  equal  to 
93  lbs.  avoirdupois. 

Talent,  as  a  money-term,  was  used  for  silver 
and  gold. 

Assuming  the  silver  to  be  of  the  fineness 
of  the  shekel,  and  thus  being  “  current  with 
the  merchant,”  the  value  of  the  talent  of  sil¬ 
ver  may  be  put  at  the  sum  of  $1740. 

The  talent  of  gold,  according  to  the  ratio 
heretofore  noticed,  was  therefore  worth 
$17,400. 

The  Greek  Talent,  usually  was  of  the 
weight  of  6000  drachms  or  drams.  The 
weight  of  the  dram  was  60  grains,  being  the 
eighth  part  of  the  ounce  of  480  grains,  it  was 

therefore  of  the  weight  of  51  lbs.  6  oz.  5  dwt., 
6 


60 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


avoirdupois.  At  the  rate  of  fineness  herein¬ 
before  stated,  namely,  950  thousandths,  the 
dram  of  silver  was  worth  16  cents  :  the  Greek 
Talent  of  silver  may  therefore  be  put  at 
$960.00.  Following  the  proportion,  that 
one  talent  of  gold  was  equal  to  ten  talents 
of  silver,  the  Greek  Talent  of  gold  was 
$9,600.00. 

A  talent  was  two-fold,  namely,  to  express 
a  weight,  or  a  sum  of  money.  The  value  of 
it  differed  according  to  the  different  ages  and 
countries  in  which  it  was  used.  In  the  Old 
Testament  the  talent  referred  to,  with  per¬ 
haps  one  or  two  exceptions,  which  will  be 
noticed,  is  the  Jewish  talent  of  3000  shekels. 

Thus  the  golden  candlestick  with  the  tongs 
and  the  snuff-dishes  for  the  tabernacle,  was 
to  be  made  of  a  talent  of  gold;  this  was  of 
the  weight  of  93  pounds;  and  was  of  the 
value  of  $17,400.  Exodus  xxv.  39.  The 
amount  of  gold  employed  in  the  tabernacle, 
was  29  talents  and  seven  hundred  and  thirty 
shekels ;  the  value  of  which  was  $508,834.00  ; 
of  silver  there  was  used  100  talents  and  1775 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


61 


shekels,  equal  to  $175,029.50.  Exodus 
xxxviii.  24,  25. 

The  silver  above  named,  was  contributed 
by  603,550  men,  who  each  paid  a  half-shekel, 
as  required  in  Exodus  xxx.  13,  14.  And  it 
is  from  the  enumeration  and  statement  in  Ex¬ 
odus  xxxviii.  24,  25,  26,  we  ascertain  that 
the  talent  contained  3000  shekels. 

King  Hiram  sent  to  king  Solomon  120 
talents,  ($2,088,000.)  1  Kings  ix.  14. 

Solomon  brought  from  Ophir  420  talents, 
($7,308,000.)  1  Kings  ix.  28. 

The  Queen  of  Sheba  gave  Solomon  120 
talents,  ($2,088,000.)  1  Kings  x.  10. 

The  weight  of  the  gold  that  came  to  Solo¬ 
mon  in  one  year,  was  666  talents,  ($11,588, 
400.)  1  Kings  x.  14. 

The  temple  of  Solomon  was  overlaid  with 
gold,  amounting  to  600  talents,  ($10,440,000.) 
2  Chron.  iii.  8. 

We  need  not  multiply  these  examples;  the 
reader  can  readily,  by  the  data  given,  convert 
the  term  talent,  where  it  occurs  in  the  Bible, 
into  the  money  of  the  United  States. 


62 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Talent — Continued. 

There  was  another  talent  however,  of  great 
antiquity,  which  some  authorities  call  the 
Uomerical  talent.  It  is  believed  to  have 
been  used  by  the  Phoenicians.  This  talent 
is  mentioned  by  Homer  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  show  that  it  was  of  greatly  inferior  value 
to  the  talents  we  have  been  considering.* 
Some  authorities  conjecture  that  it  was  equi¬ 
valent  in  value  to  some  correspondent  talent 
in  brass  ;  the  value  of  the  brass  rating  as  1 
to  100,  as  compared  with  silver,  and  the  lat¬ 
ter  as  1  to  10  compared  with  gold.  It  is 
probably  according  to  this  ancient  talent  that 
the  statement  is  made  in  1  Chron.  xxii.  14, 
where  it  is  said  that  king  David  had  u  provided 
for  the  temple  100,000  talents  of  gold,  and  one 
thousand  thousand  talents  of  silver.  ”  Jose¬ 
phus,  referring  to  this  passage,  states  the 

*  See  note  4,  page  82. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


63 


amount  as  10,000  talents  of  gold,  and  100, 
000  of  silver.  Dr.  Scott,  in  his  commentary, 
speaking  of  the  enormous  amount  indicated 
by  the  usual  reading  of  the  text  in  question, 
observes,  “It  is  generally  concluded  either 
that  some  mistake  has  taken  place  in  the  nu¬ 
merical  letters,  or  that  a  talent  of  inferior 
weight  and  value  is  meant.” 

Dr.  Jenks,  on  the  same  text  says,  “  I  am 
inclined  to  suppose  that  a  certain  number  is 
here  put  for  an  uncertain  number,  because  it 
is  said  in  ver.  16,  that  of  the  gold  and  silver 
as  well  as  of  brass  and  iron,  there  was  no 
number.”  By  this  view,  the  talent  may  here 
be  said  to  be  used  to  express  a  large  and  in¬ 
definite  amount,  in  like  manner  as  the  terms 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  are  often  used 
by  us  without  reference  to  any  precise  num¬ 
ber. 

Dr.  Arbuthnot,  a  learned  writer,  on  an¬ 
cient  coins,  on  the  same  text  says,  “David 
reigned  in  Judea  after  the  siege  of  Troy,  so 
that  it  is  no  ways  improbable  but  Homer  and 
he  might  use  the  same  talent.”  Dr.  Anthon, 
6  * 


64 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


speaking  of  a  small  talent,  which  was  probably 
the  same  to  which  we  refer,  says,  “It  was 
called  the  Sicilian  talent,  from  being  much 
used  by  the  Greeks^of  Italy  and  Sicily,’'  and 
adds,  “This  small  talent  explains  the  use  of 
the  term  great  talent  (Magnum  talentum) 
which  we  find  in  Latin  authors ;  for  the  Attic 
talent  was  great  in  comparison  with  this.” 

From  data  gathered  from  several  authori¬ 
ties,  this  talent  was  probably  of  the  weight 
of  twenty-four  drachmas,  equal  to  three  troy 
ounces ;  putting  the  silver  at  the  standard 
fineness  heretofore  given,  the  value  of  this 
talent  of  silver  was  about  $3.88  ;  and  $38. 
80,  for  the  talent  of  gold.  At  this  rate  of  va¬ 
luation,  king  David  gathered  together  “in  his 
trouble,”  or  in  his  poverty,  as  it  may  he 
rendered,  $7,760,000;  comprised  in  equal 
amounts  of  gold  and  silver. 

The  same  talent  is  probably  referred  to  in 
1  Chron,  xxix.  4-7.  This  opinion  is  strength¬ 
ened  by  the  fact  that  the  term  dram  is  there 
used:  if  it  had  been  the  Jewish  talent,  and 
there  were  parts  of  the  talent  to  be  expressed, 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


65 


no  doubt  it  would  be  stated  in  shekels ,  as  is 
done  in  Exodus  xxxviii.  24,  25. 

As  the  usual  reading  of  these  parts  of 
Scripture  give  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  va¬ 
lues  intended  to  be  expressed,  we  have  deemed 
it  proper  to  present  our  views  somewhat  at 
large  upon  the  subject. 

Where  the  word  talent  occurs  as  a  term  of 
money,  in  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  value  may  be  taken  to  be  the  J ewish  talent 
of  3000  shekels  ;  and  in  the  New  Testament, 
the  Greek  talent  of  6000  drams.* 

*  See  note  5,  page  83. 


66 


COINS  OE  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

.A.  general  statement  of  the  Coins  and  JWoney -terms  of 
the  Bible  ;  with  Tables  of  their  Weight  and  Value. 

It  is  now  the  general  custom  in  Europe,  as 
well  as  in  America,  to  express  the  weight  of 
gold  and  silver  in  the  ounce  troy,  and  its  de¬ 
cimal  fractions.  The  Mint  of  the  United 
States  has  for  many  years  adopted  that  sys¬ 
tem  in  the  mode  of  weighing  and  keeping 
accounts ;  thus  getting  rid  of  the  inconve¬ 
nience  which  arises  from  the  use  of  penny¬ 
weights  and  grains.  At  a  later  period,  the 
same  mode  was  adopted  by  the  Bank  and 
Mint  of  England.  The  fineness  of  gold  and 
silver  is  now  generally  expressed  by  the  term 
thousandths,  adopting  a  form  introduced  by 
French  assay ers. 

In  the  tables  herein  presented,  the  weights 
are  expressed  in  the  troy  ounce,  and  its  deci¬ 
mal  fractions,  carrying  it  to  the  third  figure, 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


67 


namely,  thousandths  of  an  ounce.  For  the 
reason  that  most  of  our  readers  are  doubtless 
accustomed  to  estimate  and  calculate  weights 
by  the  avoirdupois  pound,  and  its  subdivi¬ 
sions,  we  also  state  the  weights  according  to 
that  system. 

In  calculating  the  value  of  the  coins  and 
money  terms,  we  use  the  troy  ounce,  (480 
grains.)  Silver  is  valued  at  #1.22  cts.  5  mills 
per  ounce  of  standard  fineness.  This  stand¬ 
ard,  as  authorized  by  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  is  so  constituted  that  of  1000  parts 
by  weight,  900  are  of  pure  silver,  and  100  of 
copper.  The  valuation  per  ounce,  accords 
very  nearly  with  the  price  of  silver  of  like 
fineness  at  London  and  Paris,  by  whose  mar¬ 
kets  the  value  of  silver  throughout  the  world 
is  regulated. 

The  value  of  gold  is  rated  in  the  proportion 
of  ten  to  one  of  silver,  for  the  reasons  stated 
in  a  previous  chapter. 

*  See  note  6,  page  87. 


68 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Parable  of  the  Talents. 

Matthew  xxv.  14  to  30. 

In  previous  chapters  we  have  noticed  the 
talent  as  a  weight,  and  as  expressive  of  a  sum 
of  money ;  and  also  that  it  differed  in  value 
in  the  several  countries  in  which  it  was  used. 
But  the  term  talent  is  now  used  in  our  lan¬ 
guage  as  a  metaphor  to  indicate  a  quality  of 
the  mind,  namely,  ability,  capacity,  gift  or 
faculty.  For  this  use  of  the  word  talent 
( talenton )  we  are  indebted  to  the  parable  of 
our  Lord  as  recorded  in  the  25th  chapter  of 
the  Gospel  by  Matthew.  This  parable  gives 
a  spiritual  significance  to  the  word.  “  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a  man  travelling  into 
a  far  country,  who  called  his  own  servants  and 
delivered  unto  them  his  goods,”  verse  14.  The 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


69 


goods  were  talents.  The  master  and  owner 
delivered  them  to  his  servants,  ( doulos — slaves,) 
to  increase  them  in  his  absence.  a  Slaves  in 
antiquity  were  often  artisans,  or  were  allowed 
otherwise  to  engage  freely  in  business,  pay¬ 
ing,  as  it  was  frequently  arranged,  a  fixed 
yearly  sum  to  their  masters  :  or,  as  here,  they 
had  money  given  them  wherewith  to  trade  on 
his  account,  or  with  which  to  enlarge  their 
business,  and  to  bring  him  in  a  share  of  their 
profits.”1 

The  talents  given  to  the  servants  were  not 
equally  distributed.  “  Unto  one  he  gave  five 
talents,  to  another  two,  and  to  another  one ; 
to  every  man  according  to  his  several  ability,” 

v.  15. 

There  is  a  difference  in  the  amount  of  these 
gifts ;  and  yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  each 
of  the  servants  received  one  talent  from  the 
master.  The  one  to  whom  the  least  was 
given  was  the  most  faulty :  perhaps  to  teach 

1  Trench  on  the  Parables,  p.  221,  referring  to  Greswell’s 
Explanation  of  the  Parables;  and  Dictionary  of  Grecian 
and  Roman  Ant.,  title  Servus. 


70 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


us  that  such  an  one  might  be  inclined  to  say 
what  signifies  the  little  whether  it  be  done  or 
left  undone.  We  are  instructed  that  the 
Lord  looks  for  fidelity  in  little  as  well  as  in 
much.  But  in  fact  the  talent  represents  a 
large  sum  of  money,  whether  we  take  the 
Jewish  talent  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  the 
Greek  talent  of  the  New  Testament.  No 
word  was  then  in  use  to  express  a  greater 
weight  or  value.  In  like  manner,  the  trust 
or  charge  committed  to  every  individual  in 
Christ’s  spiritual  kingdom  is  of  great  value, 
and  cannot  he  over-estimated. 

This  parable  teaches  that  mankind  are  the 
subjects  of  God’s  government,  and  are  re¬ 
sponsible  to  him  for  the  exercise  of  the  talents 
or  ability  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  them. 
Every  one  is  required  to  be  faithful  in  the 
service  or  duty  which  Providence  places  be¬ 
fore  him.  “  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to 
do,  do  it  with  thy  might.”  Do  this,  whether 
it  involves  the  use  of  one  talent  or  of  many; 
whether  the  occasion  or  duty  is  great  or  small. 
It  will  surely  be  no  defence  for  any  one  to 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


71 


say  that  his  gift  or  ability  is  less  than  an¬ 
other’s.  Let  every  one  endeavour,  through 
the  assistance  of  divine  grace,  to  improve  the 
talent  given  to  him,  and  thus  promote  his  own 
true  and  substantial  happiness,  and  that  of 
others  within  the  influence  of  his  example. 

In  the  parable  before  us,  two  of  the  ser¬ 
vants  were  diligent  and  active  in  the  use  of 
the  talents  committed  to  their  charge.  They 
regarded  them  not  only  as  a  valuable  mani¬ 
festation  of  the  kindness  and  confidence  of 
their  master,  but  as  a  sacred  trust  committed 
to  them.  As  stewards  or  trustees,  they  felt 
bound  to  a  faithful  and  active  use  of  the 
means  which  were  placed  in  their  hands,  and 
that  it  was  not  reasonable  or  proper  that  so 
much  money  or  ability  should  remain  unem¬ 
ployed  or  idle.  They  were  faithful  servants ; 
and  each  one  received  the  plaudit,  “  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many  things  :  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  lord.”  What  that  joy  shall  be, 
who  can  tell  ?  Even  an  inspired  Apostle 


72 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


exclaims,  “  Eye  liatli  not  seen,  nor  ear  heai  d, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  nan, 
the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him.” 

Within  the  mansions  prepared  by  the 
Bridegroom  is  light,  happiness,  and  sacred 
joy.  There  his  faithful  servants  shall  see  his 
face  and  his  name  shall  be  written  on  their 
foreheads.  “Blessed  are  they  which  are 
called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.” 
It  is  but  little  that  we  can  receive  here  ;  some 
drops  of  joy  that  enter  into  us  ;  but  there  we 
shall  enter  into  joy,  as  vessels  put  into  a  sea 
of  happiness. 

One  of  the  servants  in  the  parable  was  un¬ 
faithful.  He  neglected  to  improve  the  talent 
committed  to  his  charge.  He  did  not  spend 
it  in  riotous  living  like  the  Prodigal  son,  but 
he  hid  it  in  the  earth  like  a  miser.  It  is  no 
uncommon  thing  for  men  to  hide  money  of 
silver  and  gold  in  the  earth;  and  sometimes 
in  cellars  and  under  hearth-stones.  This 
practice  is  induced  not  only  from  a  mean  and 
miserly  disposition,  but  from  a  want  of  con- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


T3 


fidence  in  others,  and  in  the  monied  institu¬ 
tions  of  the  country.  Besides  the  wrong  to 
society  at  large  which  such  a  practice  produces, 
it  often  leads  to  great  personal  injury  to  those 
who  adopt  it.  Instances  of  robbery,  and 
even  murder,  are  not  unfrequent  where  §uch 
hoarding  of  treasure  is  known  to  exist.  Thus 
eyen  in  a  temporal  point  of  view  the  hiding 
of  treasure  in  the  earth  is  productive  of  evil, 
and  is  injurious  in  its  consequences. 

The  unfaithful  servant  took  a  false  view  of 
the  character  of  the  master.  He  entirely 
overlooked  his  grace  in  entrusting  him  with  such 
a  considerable  sum  as  a  talent ;  and  that  too 
without  any  security;  thus  giving  him  the 
opportunity  of  advancing  the  interests  of  his 
master,  as  well  as  his  own,  hv  the  use  of  the 
money  in  the  usual  course  of  lawful  business. 
He  ought  to  have  known  that  the  master  de¬ 
sired  the  talent  to  be  used  and  improved.  If 
such  had  not  been  his  intention  he  could  as 
well  have  let  it  lie  idle  and  unemployed,  as 
could  the  servant.  The  fact  of  giving  it  to 
the  servant,  in  the  manner  mentioned  in  the 


74 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


parable,  shows  that  the  intention  of  the  mas¬ 
ter  was,  that  the  talent  should  be  used  as 
money,  and  not  hid  in  the  cellar,  or  in  the 
field  or  garden,  or  under  a  hearth-stone. 

When  he  was  called  upon  to  render  an  ac¬ 
count  of  his  stewardship  it  is  no  wonder  he 
was  afraid.  In  his  confusion  and  trepidation 
he  confessed  his  offence;  and  even  admitted 
the  hard  thoughts  he  entertained  of  his  mas¬ 
ter — showing  that  he  either  had  neglected  to 
give  the  subject  a  proper  consideration,  or 
had  wilfully  misunderstood  his  master’s  ex¬ 
pectations,  or  negligently  omitted  to  comply 
with  them.  He  should  have  had  such  confi¬ 
dence  in  his  master  that  even  if  he  had  lost 
the  money ?  or  a  part  of  it,  in  an  honest  and 
faithful  effort  to  increase  it,  when  his  judg¬ 
ment  only  was  at  fault,  he  might  nevertheless 
have  thrown  himself  upon  the  compassion  and 
mercy  of  his  master,  and  by  repentance  and 
submission  ask  and  obtain  his  pardon  and 
forgiveness.  But  no,  he  called  the  service  a 
hard  service,  even  when  he  did  nothing  but 
dis  a  hole  in  the  earth  and  hide  the  talent 

O 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


75 


therein.  The  master  pronounces  him  “  a 
■wicked  and  slothful  servant and  referring 
to  the  plea  which  the  servant  makes,  namely, 
that  he  was  “a  hard  man,”  he  adds,  “  Thou 
oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my  money  to 
the  exchangers ;  and  then  at  my  coming  I 
should  have  received  mine  own  with  usury.” 
In  other  words,  if  he  was  afraid  of  using  the 
money  in  the  ordinary  way  of  business,  he 
might  at  least  have  deposited  it  with  a  banker 
who  would  have  allowed  an  increase,  or  inter¬ 
est  thereon. 

The  word  usura ,  from  whence  comes  our 
modern  term  usury,  signifies  a  price  for  the 
use  of  any  thing.  The  word  is  now  under¬ 
stood  to  mean  the  taking  of  more  than  lawful 
interest.  It  may  be  here  noted  that  interest, 
or  a  price  for  the  use  of  money,  was  forbidden 
among  the  Jews,  and  also  among  the  Romans, 
by  an  old  law  of  that  Republic.  But  neither 
Jews  nor  Romans  were  forbidden  to  take  in¬ 
terest  from  strangers,  that  is  to  say,  from 
those  who  were  not  of  their  own  nation  or 
people.  The  servant  therefore  clearly  ne- 


76 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


glected  his  duty  in  both  aspects  of  the  case, 
namely,  1.  In  omitting  to  apply  his  talent  in 
some  useful  business.  2.  In  not  depositing  it 
with  a  banker,  or  exchanger,  who  would  have 
allowed  interest  for  its  use. 

The  neglect  to  improve  the  talent,  or  to  put 
it  out  to  the  exchangers,  by  which  a  lawful 
return  in  interest  might  have  been  secured, 
was  attended  with  disastrous  consequences  to 
the  unfaithful  servant.  The  talent  was  taken 
from  him  who  had  thus  made  a  bad  use  of  it, 
and  given  to  the  servant  who  had  gained  five 
talents  as  a  reward  for  his  industry  and  fidel¬ 
ity.  But  this  was  not  all ;  he  was  condemned 
as  an  unprofitable  servant  and  “cast  into 
outer  darkness.”  There  is  light  and  joy  in 
the  house  when  the  bridegroom  cometh. 
“  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments 
that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life, 
and  may  enter  through  the  gates  into  the 
city.”  But  those  who  are  without,  when  the 
door  is  shut,  will  be  left  in  darkness,  gloom, 
and  despair. 

May  none  of  my  readers  be  among  the  un- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


77 


happy  number  of  those  who  misapply  the  tal¬ 
ents  which  are  bestowed  upon  them,  or  abury 
them  in  the  earth;”  hut  may  they,  thiough 
the  abundant  goodness  of  God,  be  enabled  to 
so  employ  their  time,  their  money,  and  their 
abilities,  as  to  receive  the  welcome  plaudit, 
a  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  thou 
hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things,  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.” 


THE  CHILD’S  TALENT. 

God  entrusts  to  all 
Talents  few  or  many  ; 

None  so  young  and  small 
That  they  have  not  any. 

Though  the  great  and  wise 
Have  a  greater  number, 

Yet  my  one  I  prize, 

And  it  must  not  slumber. 

God  will  surely  ask, 

Ere  I  enter  heaven, 

Have  I  done  the  task 
Which  to  me  was  given  ? 


78 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Little  drops  of  rain 

Bring  the  springing  flowers, 
And  I  may  attain 

Much  by  little  powers. 

Every  little  mite, 

Every  little  measure, 

Helps  to  spread  the  light, 
Helps  to  swell  the  treasure. 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


T9 


Note  1.  (Page  8.) 

It  is  proper  to  note,  in  connexion  with  what 
is  said  in  the  introductory  chapter,  that  the 
Hebrew  word  Kesitoth ,  sometimes  translated 
“ pieces  of  money,”  and  “pieces  of  silver,” 
has  some  reference  to  the  value  of  a  lamb. 
As  in  Genesis  xxxiii.  19,  where  it  is  recorded 
that  for  a  hundred  “ pieces  of  money  f  Jacob 
bought  a  parcel  of  a  field,  where  he  had 
pitched  his  tent,  and  on  which  he  erected  an 
altar  to  the  God  of  Israel.  The  same  pur¬ 
chase  is  referred  to  in  Joshua  xxiv.  32,  where 
it  is  also  rendered  “pieces  of  silver.”  And 
in  Job  xlii.  11,  where  it  is  said  “  every  man 
also  gave  him  a  piece  of  money,”  ( Kesitah , 
singular  of  Kesitoth.)  At  an  early,  and  per¬ 
haps  contemporaneous  period,  as  we  learn  from 
ancient  inscriptions  from  time  to  time  brought 
to  light  through  the  investigations  of  anti¬ 
quarians,  the  Egyptians  used  weights  the 


80 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


form  of  which  was  that  of  a  lamb.  This  was 
used  in  weighing  gold  arid  silver,  and  we  are 
of  opinion,  adopting  the  best  authorities  on 
the  subject,  that  they  had  reference  to  the 
value  of  a  lamb  in  these  metals.  We  do  not 
therefore  concur  with  those  commentators  of 
the  Bible  who  state  that  the  pieces  mentioned 
in  the  above  cited  texts  had  the  impression 
of  a  lamb  upon  them;  on  the  contrary,  wTe 
think  that  they  represented  an  amount  of  the 
precious  metals  which  wras  the  adopted  or 
commercial  value  of  a  lamb. 

The  just  iveight  of  the  pieces  of  silver  was 
determined  by  the  scales  or  balances.  In  the 
marginal  references  to  the  texts  we  have  cited, 
the  word  lamb  or  lambs  is  used. 


Note  2.  (Page  18.) 

Coins  are  the  most  enduring  and  important 
memorials  of  ancient  history.  In  several  in¬ 
stances  they  have  supplied  materials  of  his- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  ol 

tory  which  otherwise  would  have  been  lost. 
Ancient  coins  are  well  preserved,  and  are  re¬ 
produced  from  time  to  time,  from  several 
causes  and  considerations.  1.  Because,  they 
were  generally  composed  of  metals  the  least 
destructible,  namely,  gold  and  silver.  2.  The 
insecurity  of  property  among  most  ancient 
nations  induced  the  practice  of  acquiring  the 
least  bulky,  and  the  most  readily  secreted 
treasure,  namely,  coins.  3.  Such  hoarding 
of  treasure  Was  often  made  by  burying  it  in 
the  earth,  in  fields,  in  gardens,  and  under 
houses,  after  it  was  carefully  placed  in  jars 
and  pots.  4.  In  subsequent  ages,  and  in  our 
own  times,  these  treasures  have  been  dug  up 
and  thus  found. 

The  learned  theologian  and  orientalist,  Dr. 
Michaelis,  says,  “  It  is  sufficient,  in  answer  to 
the  question,  Is  the  New  Testament  ancient 
and  genuine  ?  to  reply,  compare  it  with  the 
history  of  the  times,  and  you  cannot  doubt  of 
its  authenticity.” 


/ 


82 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Note  3.  (Page  28.) 

The  word  Stater  (crraryp)  signifies  stand¬ 
ard.  The  coin  was  adjusted  to  some  well- 
known  and  established  standard.  This  stand¬ 
ard  of  gold  appears  to  have  been  a  weight 
corresponding  to  two  drachmae  of  silver,  and 
of  the  value  of  twenty  in  silver.  (Hum¬ 
phrey’s  Man.,  vol.  1,  p.  10.)  This  valuation 
of  gold  compared  with  silver  corroborates  the 
proportionate  value  of  these  two  metals  dur¬ 
ing  and  near  the  period  when  the  money  terms 
of  the  Bible  were  used,  as  we  have  shown  at 
page  57  of  this  book. 


Note  4.  (Page  62.) 

Homer,  states  that  at  the  funeral  of  Patro- 
clus  the  prizes  were  in  the  following  order.  1. 
A  captive  woman  and  a  tripod.  2.  A  mare 
and  colt.  8.  A  kettle.  4.  Two  talents  of 
gold.  5.  A  brass  bowl,  or  urn. ' 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


83 


Eustathius,  archbishop  of  Thessalonica,  who 
was  deeply  read  in  the  classics,  and  one  of 
the  most  learned  men  of  his  time,  in  his  com¬ 
mentaries  upon  Homer,  written  about  A.  E. 
1160,  reckons  the  Homerical  talent  as  equal 
only  to  twenty-four  drachms,  or  three  troy 
ounces. 

The  exchange  of  armours  referred  to  at 
page  8,  between  the  heroes  Glaucus  and  Hio- 
med,  is  thus  translated  by  Pope. 

«  For  Diomed’s  brass  arms  of  mean  device 
For  which  nine  oxen  paid,  (a  vulgar  price,) 

He1  gave  his  own  of  gold  divinely  wrought, 

A  hundred  beeves  the  shining  purchase  brought.” 


Note  5.  (Page  65.) 

The  propriety  of  the  valuation  of  the  tal¬ 
ent  we  have  herein  given  will  be  apparent 
when  we  consider  how  enormous  the  sums 
mentioned  in  1  Chron.  xxii.  14,  would  be, 

1  Glaucus. 


8 


84 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


if  either  the  Jewish  talent  of  8,000  shekels, 
or  the  Greek  talent  of  6,000  drachms,  was 
intended.  If  we  take  the  former,  the  amount 
King  David  had  provided  would  appear  to  he 
in  gold  1740  millions  of  dollars ;  and  a  simi¬ 
lar  amount  in  silver  ;  making  in  the  aggregate 
the  sum  of  2480  millions  of  dollars.  If  we 
suppose  the  Greek  talent  was  intended,  the 
sums  would  make  1920  millions  of  dollars. 
These  sums  are  so  enormous  as  to  he  utterly 
incredible.  And  yet  some  writers  have  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  ordinary  talent  of  Scripture 
was  intended  in  these  passages.  Others,  more 
considerately,  have  conjectured  that  some  error 
has  crept  into  the  sacred  text.  The  explana¬ 
tion  and  views  herein  given  renders  it  highly 
probable,  if  not  reasonably  certain,  that  an 
inferior  talent  was  used.  This  conclusion  is 
also  strengthened  by  the  consideration  that 
David  and  Solomon,  particularly  the  latter, 
carried  on  quite  an  extensive  commerce  and 
intercourse  with  the  adjacent,  and  some  of 
the  distant  countries  of  Asia  and  Europe  ;  it 
would  be  reasonable  and  appropriate  that  the 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


85 


wealth  which  had  been  collected  and  expended 
in  the  erection  and  adornment  of  the  Temple 
should  be  expressed  in  terms  that  would  be 
properly  understood  by  other  nations,  and 
particularly  by  the  Phoenicians,  with  whom 
they  had  a  constant  intercourse. 

Adopting  this  inferior  talentj  namely,  the 
talent  of  twenty-four  drachms,  equal  to  three 
troy  ounces,  as  the  one  intended  in  1  Chroni¬ 
cles,  the  sums  mentioned  are  reasonable  and 
probable.  “  One  hundred  thousand  talents  of 
gold”  was  equal  to  three  millions  eight  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  dollars,  money 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  “a  thousand  thou¬ 
sand  talents  of  silver,”  (a  million  of  talents) 
were  equal  to  a  like  sum  of  three  millions 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  ;  making  in  the  aggregate  the  sum  of 
seven  millions  seven  hundred  and  sixty  thou¬ 
sand  dollars. 

The  donation  by  King  David,  and  the  con¬ 
tributions  of  the  people,  recorded  in  1  Chron. 
xxix.  4th  to  Tth  verses  included,  were  made 
after  the  principal  sum  above  mentioned 


86  COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

\ 

had  been  collected  and  provided  for  the  build¬ 
ing  of  the  Temple.  The  king’s  gift  in  gold 
was  of  the  value  of  one  hundred  and  foity- 
six  thousand  four  hundred  dollars ;  and  in 
silver,  twenty-seven  thousand  one  hundred 
and  sixty  dollars.  The  “princes,  captains, 
and  rulers,”  gave  in  gold  one  hundred  and 
ninety-four  thousand  and  sixty-five  dollars, 
and  in  silver,  thirty-eight  thousand  eight  hun¬ 
dred  dollars.  Total  amount  of  contributions 
in  gold  and  silver,  four  hundred  and  six  thou¬ 
sand,  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars, 
($406,425.)  The  princes  and  rulers  also  gave 
large  quantities  of  “  brass  and  iron  for 
the  building  of  the  Temple,  and  u  precious 
stones,”  to  adorn  it,  and  the  vestments  of  the 
priests,  the  value  of  which  it  is,  in  this  con¬ 
nexion,  unnecessary  to  consider,  even  if  we 
had  any  reliable  information  on  the  subject, 

which  in  fact  we  have  not. 

These  generous  contributions,  we  learn 
from  the  inspired  record,  were  freely  and  will¬ 
ingly  offered.  “Then  the  people  rejoiced 
because  with  perfect  heart  they  offered  will- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


8T 


ingly  to  the  Lord :  and  David  the  king  also 
rejoiced  with  great  joy.”  This  interesting 
transaction  affords  a  striking  instance  of  the 
liberality  and  zeal  of  God’s  people,  and  is 
worthy  of  imitation  in  all  ages. 


Note  6.  (Page  67.) 

The  author  has  received  numerous  testi¬ 
monials  of  the  value  and  accuracy  of  the 
statements  and  tables  in  this  little  work.  It 
is  deemed  proper  to  insert  one  of  these  tes¬ 
timonials,  inasmuch  as  it  emanates  from  a 
gentleman  who  is  very  well  informed  on  the 
subject  of  ancient  and  modern  coins.  Refer¬ 
ring  to  the  first  edition,  sent  to  him  by  the 
author,  he  says,  “  Accept  my  thanks  for  a 
copy  of  ‘  The  Coins  of  the  Bible,  and  its  money 
terms.’  Agreeably  to  your  polite  and  friendly 
request,  I  have  examined  the  statements  of 
fact  in  your  work,  and  they  appear  to  me  to  he 


88 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


carefully  made,  and  reliable.  As  a  manual 
of  reference  the  book  will  always  be  useful. 

“As  the  talent  and  th  q  pound  were  monies 
of  account,  and  not  coins,  I  have  not  here¬ 
tofore  given  much  attention  to  them.  The 
parable  of  the  ten  pounds  {delta  mnai )  in  Luke 
xix.  gives  an  interest  to  the  mina  or  maneh. 
It  evidently,  as  you  state,  represented  100 
drachms  in  the  Greek  system. 

“In  speaking  of  the  value  of  the  ‘penny’ 
of  that  day,  and  of  its  being  the  measure  of 
a  day’s  work,  it  might  have  been  wTell  to  say, 
that  to  this  day  the  same  amount  of  silver 
goes  quite  as  far,  or  farther  in  the  region  of 
Syria.  In  Switzerland,  a  day’s  labour  is  about 
15  cents ;  in  Ireland  not  long  since  about  20 
cents.  So  that  it  is  very  necessary  to  correct 
the  Sunday  scholar’s  ideas,  and  others,  about 
the  price  paid  for  labour,  and  the  liberality  of 
the  good  Samaritan ;  and  to  show  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  working-man  here,  and  over 
there,  down  to  our  own  times. 

“  The  relation  of  gold  to  silver,  in  ancient 
times,  is  a  very  interesting  subject.  Know- 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


89 


mg  that  Prof.  J.  H.  Alexander  of  Baltimore, 
one  of  the  most  learned  and  accurate  scholars 
of  our  day,  had  thoroughly  examined  that 
subject,  I  wrote  to  him,  and  have  received  a 
full  and  satisfactory  reply.  In  effect,  he  con¬ 
cludes  by  accepting  the  authority  of  Boeckh, 
saying, — ‘I  think  the  ratio  he  (B.)  takes, 
namely  ten  to  one,  to  be  reasonably  well  es¬ 
tablished,  as  common  for  several  centuries 
before  and  after  the  Christian  era.’  This  is 
a  confirmation  of  your  view.”1 

1  Letter  from  W.  E.  Dubois,  Esq.,  Assistant  Assayer  U.  S. 
Mint. 


90 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


A  Table  of  Jewish  Weights. 

lbs.  oz.  dwt.  grs. 

Shekel,  217  grs.=0  oz.  452  dec.  or  9  1 

Maneh,  (60  shekels)  13,020  grs.=27  oz. 

125  dec.  or  1  1  5  20 

Talent,  (3000  shekels)  651,000  grs.=1356oz. 

458  dec.  ,  93  0  0  0 


Greek  (Attic)  Weights. 


Drachma,  60  grs.=to  0  oz.  125  dec.  or 

2  12 

Mina,  (100  drachmas)  6000  grs.  =125  oz.  or 
Talent,  (6000  drachmas)  360,000  grs.= 

12  10  0 

750  oz.  or 

51  6  5  0 

A  Table  of  Jewish  Coins  and  Money-terms. 

ct.  m. 

Gerah,  one-twentieth  of  a  shekel, 

2.9 

Zuzah,  one^fourth  of  a  shekel, 

14.5 

Bekah,  shekel  of  the  king,  or  half-shekel, 

29 

Shekel  of  silver, 

58 

Shekel  of  gold, 

$5.80 

Maneh  of  silver,  (60  shekels) 

$34.80 

Maneh  of  gold,  “  “ 

$348.00 

Talent  of  silver,  (3000  shekels) 

$1740.00 

Talent  of  gold,  “  “ 

$17,400.00 

Greek  (Attic)  Coins  and  Money-terms. 


Lepton,  (Mite,) 
Obolus, 


ct.  m. 
0.2 
2.6 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Drachm,  “  piece  of  silver,”  Luke  xv.  8. 
Didrachm, 

Tetraclrachm  (or  stater) 

Mina  (100  drachms)  of  silver,  “pound.” 
Luke  xix.  13. 

Mina,  (100  drachms,)  of  gold, 

Talent,  (6000  drachms)  of  silver, 

Talent,  “  “  of  gold, 

Roman  Coins. 


91 

et.  m. 
16.0 

32.0 

64.0 


$16.00 

$160.00 

$960.00 

$9600.00 


Assarius,  one-tenth  part  of  the  denarius  (“  far-  cts.  m. 

thing.”  Matt.  x.  29.)  1*5 

Quadrans,  (or  Sestertius)  one-fourth  of  the 

denarius  (“farthing.”  Matt.  v.  26.)  3.75 

Quinarius,  half  denarius.  7.5 

Denarius,  (“Penny.”  Matt.  xx.  2;  xxii.  19,  &c.)  15.0 

Aureus,  (stater)  Gold  coin,  weighed  double  the 

denarius,  value,  $3.00 


The  Romans  usually  reckoned  money  by  Sestertii.  For 
example,  the  sum  of  1000  Sestertii  was  called  Sestertium,  &e. 

cts.  m. 


1  Sestertius 
10  Sestertii 

100  « 

1000  “ 

Their  use  of  the  word  talent,  as  a  money  term,  is  not  very  ex¬ 
act.  The  Roman  talent,  however,  as  a  weight,  was  equal  to 
60  librae  or  pounds  ;  the  pound  being  divided  into  12  ounces. 
According  to  the  rate  and  proportion  herein  given,  the  Ro¬ 
man  talent  of  silver  may  be  valued  at  $931.00 

The  talent  of  gold,  $9310.00 


3.75 

37.5 

$3.75 

$37.50 


The  denarius  during  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  is 


92 


COINS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


generally  put  as  equal  to  the  drachm  (16  cents,)  but  it  was 
of  diminished  weight  during  the  Empire.  In  the  time  of 
the  New  Testament  it  may  be  valued,  as  above  stated,  at  15 


cents.  „  „ 

In  the  Old  Testament,  where  the  term  ‘piece  of  money, 

is  used  in  our  translation,  the  word  “  shekel  ”  generally  oc¬ 
curs  in  the  original  text.  In  the  New  Testament,  drachma 
is  translated  “piece  of  silver,”  Luke  xv.  8.  And  argunon, 
“  pieces  of  silver,”  Matt.  xxvi.  15  ,•  Matt.  xxvu.  6-9  j  Acts 
xix.  19.  Argurion,  “  money,”  Matt.  xxv.  18-27  j  Luke  xix.  23. 
Didrachma,  “tribute”  (money.)  Matt.  xvii.  24. 

Talent,  Homerical  or  Phoenician. 

Cold  “  “  $38.80 

’  „  «  $3.88 

Silver, 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Assarius,  91. 

Aureus,  91. 

Bekah,  90. 

Cattle,  a  medium  of  exchange,  7. 

Coinage,  remarks  on,  7. 

Coins,  general  statement  of,  66. 

Coining  press,  ancient,  13. 

- modern,  15. 

Denarius,  17,  22,  38,  43,  91. 

Destruction  of  Jerusalem  recorded  by  the  Denarius,  38,  43. 
Drachma,  91. 

Didrachma,  30,  91. 

Gerah,  57,  90. 

Gold,  value  of,  compared  with  silver,  57,  59,  89. 

Greek  weights  of  coins  and  money  terms,  90,  91. 

Half  shekel,  30,  31,  56,  90. 

Introduction  of  money  as  a  measure  of  value,  7. 

Jewish  weights  of  coins  and  money  terms,  90. 

93 


94 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Lepton,  47,  50,  90. 

Maneh,  57,  90. 

Mina,  90. 

Mite,  47,  50,  90. 

Money  terms  of  the  Bible,  54,  90. 

Obolus,  90. 

Parable  of  tbe  Talents,  68. 

Penny,  17,  22,  38,  43,  91. 

“Piece  of  money/’  28,  91. 

Pieces  of  Silver,  (“Zam6s,”)  79. 

Quadrans,  91. 

Sestertius,  91. 

Shekel,  33,  54,  90. 

Silver,  value  of,  compared  with  gold,  57,  59,  89. 
Stater,  11,  28,  82,  91. 

Tables  of  weights,  90. 

-  coins  and  money  terms,  90. 

Talent,  59,  62,  68,  82,  83,  90,  91. 

Tetradrachm,  91. 

Usury,  75. 

Weight  of  coins,  66,  90. 

Zuza,  56,  90. 


I 


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